Following the ribbon cutting, IBM will host a mobile strategy event for industry analysts and press in the Labs. Among the speakers will be Alistair Rennie, talking about things IBM does on mobile devices, now and in the future. Those who saw my mobile strategy presentation at DNUG last week saw a preview of what Alistair will speak about; I will post the presentation slides here/slideshare following the event. Yes, we have an announcement somewhere in there, too...

Computerworld previews the event, with several analysts weighing in as well:

"IBM makes basic meat-and-potatoes software, and it's not glitzy like iPhone apps and mobile moviemaking," Howe said. "But IBM has a multibillion-dollar business in meat-and-potatoes software. It's not glamorous, but it does pay the bills."

IBM appears to be prepared to address mobile computing more directly, but he noted that it already has a central role, with more than 1 billion phone subscribers using IBM software daily, and that 80% of smartphone software was developed with IBM technology.